28.4.12

Goodbye Saigon

So I went to Vietnam, it was fun. I had university holidays coming up, and when I mentioned it to my parents, who live in Ho Chi Minh City, they suggested I met them in Singapore in a few days. So... I did. It was a really rushed trip, which lead to some delays stemming from a problem with my Vietnam visa. The problem being I didn't have one. But after some canceled flights and some begging and pleading and frantic taxi rides to the embassy and large wads of cash exchanged, I ended up in Ho Chi Minh City safely once more. Relatively safely. I had a bit of classic food poisoning, and also infected bedbug bites and the flu, which lead to a sinus infection and me losing my voice completely too. Which is fun in a country where you don't speak the language to begin with. But thankfully Vietnamese pharmacies are extremely liberal with their medications, and endowed upon me a huge pile of medications that would require actual medical assessment in NZ. It was still an excellent trip, even though I wasn't up to as much as usual.

I can always manage a drink though. The prices in Vietnam are RIDICULOUS. Thirty cents for a can of beer? Nine dollars for a litre of Gordon's? Two dollars for an amaretto sour? Don't mind if I do! My suitcase was utterly stuffed on the way home, with bottles of gin wrapped in dresses.

My mum had prepared for my arrival with this charming 5-litre cask of disgusting wine.

Excellent decor at the Reunification Palace.

I LOVE PACKING. I think a good future career for me would be a personal packer for the rich and famous. This was my initial travel wardrobe, although I managed to acquire much more on my sojourn, including some beautiful tailored pieces. We found an a m a z i n g fabric market, inside Tan Dinh market. They pretty much had every sort of fabric and trimming you could ever want, and this is where Mum and I bought fabrics to get dresses and things made at the tailor. Printed 100% cottons were around $1-$3 per metre, with velvet and linen and lace being a little more expensive. I also got an amazing lace collar for 30 cents. I also unearthed some second-hand stalls at another market, where donated clothing from China and Australia is imported and resold, where I got three awesome, possibly hideous 80s dresses. 'Possibly hideous' could describe everything I want to wear lately. I left Wellington with almost nothing in my suitcase, and came back with 10 dresses, which was actually a terrible idea because Jack just moved in with me and now I have to share my little clothes rail with him. I've had to put some of my dresses in a suitcase and store them away for a while! I will post outfit photos with some of my new things soon. But not right now. I am too sick to do much. Apparently I have asthma now, which is great fun.

3 comments:

Sounds like a great trip minus the sickness!! I spent a month travelling around Vietnam two years ago and absolutely loved it - your pictures of the crazy motorbike-filled roads transport me right back :)

It sucks that you were sick for your holiday but on the plus side that stripey dress you're wearing is really cute. I am super jealous of the fabric market. It sounds amazing. Is that a novelty print I spy on one of those dresses? I hope you feel better soon.